Religious

Although originally settled by people from Connecticut, Cleveland was not

in its early days distinguished for its religious characteristics. Old

inhabitants narrate how in the infancy of the settlement the whisky shop

was more frequented than the preaching meeting, whenever that was held,

and how, on one occasion, a party of scoffing unbelievers bore in mock

triumph an effigy of the Saviour through the streets. A regular meeting of

infidels was held, and burlesque celebrations of the Lord's Supper

performed. Still later, when the business of slaughtering hogs became an

important branch of industry, it was carried on regularly, on Sundays as

well as on week-days, and as this was a leading feature in the year's

doings the religious observance of the day was seriously interfered with

during slaughtering season. Trade on the river, in the busy season, went

on with but little regard for the Sundays, except that Mr. John Walworth

invariably refused, although not a church member, to conform to the usage

of his neighbors in doing business on that day. Unlike the modern

emigrants from New England, the Cleveland pioneers did not carry the

church with them.

The first regularly organized religious society in Cleveland was the

Episcopal, which gathered together for religious worship in 1817, under

the ministration of the Rev. Roger Searles. The meetings were held

wherever a room could be obtained, the court-house, old academy building,

and other public rooms being frequently used for the purpose. In 1828,

Trinity Church was regularly incorporated, and the frame building which

stood on the corner of Seneca and St. Clair streets until its destruction

by fire in 1853, is remembered with affection by many Clevelanders as

"Old Trinity."

The next religions organization was Presbyterian. In 1820, a few residents

of Cleveland engaged, the Rev. Randolph Stone, pastor of a church at

Morgan, Ashtabula county, to devote a third of his ministrations to

Cleveland. In June of that year the first Sunday school was established

with Elisha Taylor as superintendent, but it was only by the most

persistent effort that it was enabled to combat the prejudices and

overcome the indifference of the people. In September, 1820, the First

Presbyterian church was formally organized, with fourteen members, in the

old log court-house. In 1827, the society was regularly incorporated, and

in 1834, the old stone church on the Public Square was opened for worship.

During the whole of this time the congregation had no settled pastor, but

was dependent on occasional visits of ministers from other places.

The first attempt at Methodist organization was somewhere between 1824 and

1827. Methodism was not in favor among the early settlers in Cleveland.

The historian of the Erie Conference relates that a Methodist friend in

New England, who owned land in Cleveland, sent on a deed for the lot on

the northeast corner of Ontario and Rockwell street, where Mr. Crittenden

afterwards built a large stone house, which lot would have been most

suitable for a church, and that no person could be found willing to pay

the trifling expense of recording, or take charge of the deed, and it was

returned to the donor. In 1830, Cleveland became a station, with Rev. Mr.

Plimpton, pastor.

The first Baptist meeting was held in the old academy, in 1832, the Rev.

Richmond Taggart preaching to a handful of believers. In 1833, the First

Baptist society was formally organized with twenty-seven members, Moses

White and Benjamin Rouse, who still live in the city, being of the

original deacons. In 1836, their first church, on the corner of Seneca and

Champlain streets, was dedicated with a sermon by the Rev. Elisha Tucker,

of Buffalo, who was afterwards called to the pastorate.

About the year 1835, the first Roman Catholic church was built on Columbus

street on the flats, and was intended to supply the religious needs of the

Roman Catholics of Cleveland and Ohio City, being situated almost midway

between the settled portions of the two places. The first pastor was the

Rev. Mr. Dillon.

In 1835, the first Bethel church, for the use of sailors, was built at the

back of the site of Gorton, McMillan & Co.'s warehouse. It was a plain

wooden structure, which remained there until the erection of the brick

church on Water Street, when the wooden building was removed to make way

for the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad.

In 1839, the first Hebrew synagogue was organized and a brick church was

afterwards built on Eagle street.

From these feeble beginnings have grown up the present religious

organizations of Cleveland, numbering about seventy churches, many of them

of great beauty and costliness, with flourishing Sunday schools and

wealthy congregations. The leading denominations have each several

churches graded, from stately buildings for the older and wealthier

congregations to the modest mission chapels. Nearly all the religious

beliefs of the day are represented by organizations in the city, and all

are in a flourishing, or at least a growing condition.

Samuel C. Aiken.

The ancestors of Mr. Aiken were from the North of Ireland, particularly

from Londonderry, Antrim and Belfast. At an early day one or two colonies

came over to this country and settled on a tract of land on the Merrimac

River, in New Hampshire, calling it Londonderry, after the name of the

city from which most of them had emigrated. Fragments of these colonies

were soon scattered over New England, and a few families moved to Vermont

and purchased a tract of land midway between the Green Mountains and

Connecticut River. The township was at first called Derry, and afterwards

divided, one portion retaining the original name, and the other taking the

name of Windham. In the latter town Dr. Aiken was born, September 21,

1791. His parents were both natives of Londonderry, New Hampshire. Before

their marriage, his mother, whose maiden name was Clark, resided a

considerable portion of her time in Boston, with a brother and three

sisters, and was there when the Revolutionary war broke out. When the city

fell into the hands of the British, they refused to let any one leave. By

some means however Miss Clark escaped and crossed over to Cambridge, where

the American army was stationed under General Washington. After

questioning her as to her escape and the situation of affairs in the city,

Washington told her, that, in the present condition of the country it was

unsafe for her to travel unprotected, and accordingly gave her an escort,

proving that the great General was also mindful of the courtesies of a

gentleman.

When about twelve or thirteen years of age, Dr. Aiken, after a preparatory

course, entered Middlebury college, in 1813. In his junior year a long fit

of sickness placed him under the care of a physician from Georgia, who

bled him forty times and gave him calomel and julep, (such was the way of

curing fever,) sufficient to destroy the best constitution. The

consequence was, his health was so impaired that he was obliged to leave

college for a year. Afterwards returning he entered the class of 1814. In

both classes were quite a number of young men who became distinguished in

Church and State. Among them was Sylvester Larned, the eloquent preacher

of New Orleans, Levi Parsons and Pliney Fisk, first missionaries to

Palestine, Carlos Wilcox, the poet, Silas Wright, afterwards Governor of

New York State, and Samuel Nelson, now on the Bench of the Supreme Court

of the United States.

[Illustration: ]

Dr. Aiken's first religious impressions were occasioned by reading

Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. Faithful parental

instruction in the Bible and Shorter Catechism had laid the foundation for

belief in the truth of religion. A revival of religion soon after entering

college awakened a new and solemn purpose to devote his life to the work

of the Gospel ministry. The usual course of three years at Andover

Theological Seminary was passed without any special occurrence. He was

then called by the "Young Men's Missionary Society" in New York, to labor

in their service in that city. He had but just entered the field when an

urgent request from the First Presbyterian society in Utica, New York,

took him to that place, then only a small village, where he was ordained

and installed, the third of February, 1818. Some events of deep interest

occurred while he was in Utica. The building and completion of the Erie

canal was one. The cholera in 1832, was another. It was there and then

this fatal epidemic first appeared in the United States. In Utica also

during his ministry were several revivals of religion of great power and

interest. Moreover, about that time the subject of anti-slavery began to

be agitated; opposition and mobs began to gather, which, under the control

of the Almighty, have resulted in the emancipation of millions of slaves.

Impaired health, after about nineteen years of labor, with very little

relaxation or relief by traveling, such as is common now, determined him

to accept a call from the First Presbyterian church and society in

Cleveland, over which he was installed pastor in November, 1835. Although

the church had been organized fifteen years, Rev. Mr. Aiken was the first

regular pastor. The ministerial duties were performed by supplies.

Soon after Mr. Aiken was installed pastor, a great financial revulsion

took place; and for a period of about ten years he voluntarily

relinquished three hundred dollars out of his salary of fifteen hundred,

lest it should prove burthensome to the church. This low tide in financial

matters was characterized by remarkable religious developments; slavery,

temperance and Millerism became church questions; and it was regarded as

the peculiar mission of Mr. Aiken to distinguish between truth and error.

His moderation, judicious advice, and devoted character were just

calculated to conduct his charge safely through the distractions of that

period. The society increased at such a rate that the building became

crowded, and another church was organized for the West Side. On the East

Side a Congregational church was formed about the year 1840, to which some

of the more radical members of the First Presbyterian church went over. In

process of time the nucleus of the Second Presbyterian church on Superior

street, and the Third, on Euclid street, were formed out of the First

church, not because of any dissatisfaction, however, but for want of room.

But, notwithstanding these offshoots, a new and larger edifice became

necessary, and in 1853, the present enlarged, elegant and substantial

building was put up on the site of that of 1834. In March, 1857, the wood

work of this spacious stone structure was destroyed by fire.

In his physical constitution, with which the mental is closely allied, Mr.

Aiken is deliberate, to a degree which some have greatly mistaken for

indolence. But with a commanding person, and strong will this habitual

absence of excitement was never tame, but rather impressive. He seldom

rose above the even tenor of his discourse, but never fell to commonplace,

was generally interesting and occasionally eloquent. His sermons were not

hasty compositions, without a purpose, but well studied, rich with

original and important thought, artistically arranged and glowing with

genuine piety and embellished with scholastic treasures. Dr. Aiken

possessed the accomplishment, and understood the value of good reading, so

rare in the pulpit, and which is scarcely inferior to eloquence. We

remember but few occasions when he became thoroughly aroused. The

destruction of so fine a church edifice so soon after it was completed

seemed to him a personal calamity. On the following Sunday the

congregation met in Chapin's Hall. His heart was evidently full of grief;

but also of submission. His fine enunciation, correct emphasis, and strong

yet suppressed feelings, secured the earnest attention of every hearer. He

touched graphically upon the power of fire; how it fractures the rock,

softens obdurate metals, envelopes the prairies in flame, and how it

seized upon the seats, ceiling and roof in his darling house of worship,

thence fiercely ascending the spire to strive to rise still higher, and

invade the clouds. From this he turned to the doctrine of submission, in a

manner so earnest and pathetic that a perceptible agitation pervaded the

audience, in which many could not suppress their tears. There was no

laboring after effect. It was the natural result of a lofty sentiment,

expressed with unction, beauty and vigor.

During the same year the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church was

held at Cleveland. The slavery question was there presented for the last

time. The Southern members, represented by Rev. Mr. Ross, of Alabama, had

counted upon what they called a conservative course, on the part of Mr.

Aiken. They wished, simply, to be let alone. From the Middle States there

were many clergyman of moderate views, who expected him to take their

ground, or, at least, to be silent. He had advised non-resistence to the

execution of the fugitive slave law, even on the part of the blacks, in

cases where governmental officials were implicated. As usual, the negro

question came up, and a large portion of a day was given to it.

Until near the close of the debate the representatives of the Middle and

Southern States were quite hopeful of a moderate policy, or of no policy.

Mr. Aiken sat near the marble pulpit in the Second church without any

apparent interest in the discussion. He rose and spoke with difficulty and

in a weak voice, and few words. In a temperate but firm and patriarchal

manner he recounted the various phases of the question, during his public

ministry. He then touched upon the moral and religions aspect of the case,

but with no asseveration, and concluded by denouncing slavery as an evil,

so monstrous that the church could neither sustain nor ignore it. The

silence was so complete that no word was lost. When he sat down, the

Southern members remarked that their fate within the church was settled.

On a previous public occasion in 1851, when the Columbus Railway was just

completed, and an excursion of State dignitaries made a trial trip to

Cleveland, Mr. Aiken was requested to preach in their presence. As this

discourse is one of a very few that have been printed, we can give a few

literal extracts:

It was my privilege on the Lord's day to address De Witt Clinton and

the Canal Commissioners of New York in recognition of the beneficient

hand of Providence, who had carried them on to the completion of the

Erie Canal. In a moral and religions, as well as in a social and

commercial point of view, there is something both solemn and sublime

in the completion of a great thoroughfare. It indicates not only the

march of mind and a higher type of society, but the evolution of a

divine purpose.

In his quarter century sermon, June 3d, 1850, he says of revivals:

They are as their Divine Author says, like the breath of wind through

fragrant trees and flowers, scattering grateful odors, pervading the

universal church with the treasured sweetness of divine grace. If my

success has not been as great as I would wish, it is as great as I had

reason to expect. I confess I have much to deplore, and much for which

to be thankful. There have been adverse influences here to counteract

those usually falling to the lot of other ministers. So far as the

subject of slavery is concerned I have endeavored without the fear or

favor of man to preserve a course best calculated to promote freedom and

save the church from dismemberment.

With such a style, perspicuous, easy and impressive, it is easy to see

how he might thoroughly absorb the attention of an audience, without

affecting the orator. If he had been more ambitions and more enterprising,

he might have risen higher as a popular preacher, but would have held a

lower place in the affections of his people. The position of a pastor in

an active and growing city is beset with difficulty on all sides. To

retain place and influence in one congregation during a period of

thirty-five years is an evidence of prudence, character and stability of

purpose more to be desired than outside fame in the church.

Though not yet arrived at extreme old age, he is too feeble to perform

much service. It is ten years since he has retired from active duty, but

his congregation continue his annual salary by an unanimous vote. Few

clergyman are permitted to witness, like him, the fruits of their early

labors. He has contributed largely to shape the religions institutions of

a city, while it was increasing in population from three thousand to

ninety thousand. We remember but one instance where he was drawn into a

newspaper discussion. This was in the year 1815, in which he reviewed the

decrees of the Council of Trent in relation to the prohibition of the

Scriptures to the common people. The letters of "Clericus" and "Veritas"

on that subject covered the whole ground on both sides, and are worthy of

publication in a more permanent form.

The Rev. Doctor sustained the relation of pastor to the First Presbyterian

church until 1858, when he resigned, leaving the Rev. Dr. Goodrich sole

pastor. The whole extent of his ministry from the time of his license by

the Londonderry Presbytery, 1817, to the present time, March, 1869, has

been about fifty-three years. During forty-three years of this period he

has been a pastor in only two congregations. The other portion of this

time he has preached and labored in vacant churches and where there was no

church, as health and opportunity permitted.

The Doctor still resides in Cleveland, beloved by the church over which

for so many years he watched and prayed, and honored in a community in

which he has so long been recognized as an unswerving advocate of right.

Retired from active duty, and nearing, as he is, the sunset of life, his

quiet hours may bring to him remembrances of vigorous effort and

unmeasured usefulness, while his gentle nature may be cheered by the

consciousness that he still holds the love of this people.

Seymour W. Adams.

The subject of this sketch, Rev. Seymour Webster Adams, D. D., was born at

Vernon, Oneida county, New York, August 1, 1815. His father's name was

Isaac Adams and his mother's maiden name was Eunice Webster--she was a

niece of Noah Webster, the great American lexicographer. His mother is

still living. His father died in 1861. Dr. Adams was possessed of

remarkable equanimity of temperament, a healthful constitution and great

powers of application and endurance. These traits, the home influences

under which he was nurtured, developed in a high degree. His early years

were passed upon his father's farm at Vernon and in the home circle.

Having before him constantly not only the example of right living, as

generally esteemed, but of holy living, he could not do otherwise than

profit greatly by the example set before him. But he did not only profit

by this example--he went much further. It is said of him, "As a son he was

docile, loving, tenderly attached to his kindred, profoundly obedient and

reverent towards his parents, whose wish was the law of his heart, and

whom he loved to call blessed."

At the age of seventeen he became a member of the Baptist church at

Vernon, and soon after this entered upon a course of preparation for a

liberal education and in due time he entered Hamilton College, Clinton,

New York, from which he graduated after a full course, taking a very high

position in his class.

That the leading traits of his character while young may be appreciated,

some of his early writings are here referred to.

Soon after entering upon his collegiate course he wrote upon "Integrity of

Character," and among other things remarked that the man who suffers his

principles to be violated "sacrifices his honor, barters all that is noble

and admirable, and abandons those principles to which he should cling with

an unyielding grasp."

On another occasion a little further on he is found maintaining the

necessity of the exercise of the physical and intellectual powers of man

"as a wise provision of the Sovereign Ruler of the world" for man's

happiness, and he maintains that not only in this should there be activity

but _energy_.

Afterwards, in 1841, when he had become a senior and was about to bid

adieu to college life, he chose as the subject of his oration,

"Development of Character," maintaining that no one can become "deservedly

great" who does not encounter and overcome the impediments and

difficulties constantly presenting themselves. He says: "Difficulties may

long have met the aspirant at every step and been for years his constant

companions, yet so far from proving detrimental, they have been among the

most efficient means for preparing him for vigorous effort to surmount

still greater barriers."

These references are deemed sufficient to indicate the principles and

leading traits of the youthful Seymour W. Adams, and as we shall see, were

his unvarying guides through life. To him it was the same to resolve as to

perform, for whether in earlier or later life he never put his hand to the

plow and looked back. Therefore, having resolved to become a Christian

minister, he never swerved from that resolution for a single moment, but

went forward with his mind fixed upon his purpose and object as the

mariner's upon his guiding star. In pursuance of his previous

determination, in the Fall of 1841 he entered the Hamilton Theological

Seminary at Hamilton, Madison county, New York, from which in regular

course he graduated, and after acting as ministerial supply in one or two

places, he was called to and accepted the pastorate of the Baptist church

at Vernon, his native place, having previously received ordination. Here

he was greatly beloved by his people and continued there quietly pursuing

his duties, until sought out at his village home and invited to accept the

vacant pastorate of the First Baptist church of Cleveland, Ohio.

When first invited to the Cleveland pastorate he refused to listen, and

declined to entertain the call; but upon the matter being further pressed

upon him, upon the second call he consented to visit Cleveland for the

purpose of becoming acquainted with the people and learning their

situation, but was careful to give them no encouragement that he would

accept their invitation.

Mr. Adams came to Cleveland in pursuance of this call October 19th, 1846,

and after remaining three weeks returned home to Vernon, leaving it in

great doubt whether he would return here. In about a month afterwards, the

church at Cleveland calling him was relieved of suspense by his acceptance

of the pastorate. He entered upon it November 22d, 1846. The subject of

his discourse on this occasion was:

"For they watch for your souls as they that must give

account."--Heb. xiii, 17.

A few words as to this discourse is deemed not out of place here, as it

has become historic in the church to which it was delivered. The doctrine

of the discourse was the reciprocal duty of pastor and people. Reference

will only be made to what appertains to the pastor. He laid down most

rigid rules for him--"that he should be a holy man,"--that he should be

one that "hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his

soul unto vanity." That the injunction was laid upon him, "Keep thyself

pure;" that as the conduct of the minister is observed by many it should

be fitting as an example to others "in word, in conversation, in charity,

in spirit, in faith, in purity." That in preparation for preaching the

Word "time, thought and prayer must be given--that the burden of all his

preaching should be 'Christ and him crucified.'"

How well he observed these will appear hereafter in the language of those

who made addresses at his funeral, or soon afterwards. The reader is also

referred to the Memoir of Dr. Adams, edited by Judge Bishop.

In this pastorate Dr. Adams continued till his decease. No extended

reference can be made to his labors in so brief a sketch as this. A mere

summary only can be given of his life work. The number of sermons preached

by him, including addresses at funerals, is three thousand four hundred

and ninety-three; number of marriages solemnized, three hundred and

fifty-two; number of funerals attended, five hundred and four; number

received into the church, including those received both by letter and

baptism, about seven hundred. In addition to his other labors, in 1858-9,

he wrote the life of Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Kendrick, so long and honorably

known as the founder of the Hamilton Theological School, and which has

since grown to be Madison University and Hamilton Theological Seminary.

While in this work all display and all mere ornament is avoided, it is a

work of decided merit, requiring severe application and patient industry

to accomplish it. His surviving wife has said that "his pastoral labors

were prosecuted regardless of self."

He was three times married. First to Miss Caroline E. Griggs, who died

April, 1847. Second, January, 1849, to Mrs. Cordelia C. Peck, widow of

Rev. Linus M. Peck, and daughter of Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Kendrick; she died

October, 1852. Third, to Miss Augusta Hoyt, August, 1855, who is the

mother of his four surviving children.

He was not only a Christian minister, but he was a true Christian patriot,

and never, during all the terrible struggle for the life of the nation,

when he offered prayer, did he fail to remember his country. Nearly the

last work of his life was to accept an appointment in the Christian

Commission to render service in Washington and at the front, relieving and

comforting the sick and wounded of our army.

On the sixth of July, 1864, he returned home from this service, quite

unwell, but he thought he could find no space for repose, and labored on

more intensely than ever, all which time a crisis was approaching which he

did not anticipate. He at last began to perceive symptoms of severe

illness, and Sabbath, September 11th, he preached his last sermon to his

people from Heb. iii: 7, 8. "To-day if ye will hear his voice harden not

your hearts," &c. All that can be said here of this discourse is, that if

he had known it was his last he could not have spoken more appropriately

or warned more earnestly. From the preaching of this discourse he went to

the sick-room, and on the 27th of September, 1864, Dr. Adams bade adieu to

earth and passed away.

His funeral was attended September 30th, by a great multitude of mourners

and friends, at the First Baptist church, and a large number of the

clergymen of Cleveland participated in the solemnities.

This sketch can not be better concluded than by referring briefly to some

of the remarks made on that occasion, as a fitting testimonial to the

character and worth of Dr. Adams.

Remarks, 1st, by Rev. Dr. Aiken:

I have known him intimately, and I have thought, as I have seen him on

the street, of that passage of Scripture, "Behold an Israelite indeed in

whom there is no guile," for there was no guile in him. You might read

his profession in his daily life. He commended daily the Gospel that he

preached, and gave living witness of its power and showed that he loved

the truth. He was eminently successful as a pastor and useful in the

cause of the Redeemer.

2d, by Rev. Dr. Goodrich:

There was manifest a diligence in his study and a thoroughness of

thought which commanded increased respect the longer we listened to him.

His life and character made him felt in this community even more than

his words. He preached one day in the week to his own flock, but he

lived forth the Gospel of Christ every day before the world. There was

in him a sincerity and consistency which could not be hid. He was

transparent as crystal and honest as a little child. No man ever doubted

him. He was always himself, true, manly, faithful. Men, as they passed

him in the street, said to themselves, "There is a man who believes all

the Gospel he preaches." He is gone, but his works follow him. "Being

dead he yet speaketh."

3d, by Rev. Dr. Hawks:

Possessed naturally of a strong intellect, he disciplined it by the

severe process of thought and study. His scholarship was accurate and

thorough, his reading extensive and profitable, by means of these he

intended to serve, as he did, Christ and the church. Dr. Adams was a

pastor as well as preacher. He taught not only publicly but from

house to house.

J. A. Thome.

James Armstrong Thome was born in Augusta, Kentucky, January 20, 1813.

He is of Scotch descent on his father's side, and of North Irish by his

mother, a native Armstrong of the border land. His father was a

Presbyterian of the Scotch type, and a ruling elder in the church. His

mother was a Methodist of the original Wesleyan order and period, having

been converted under the labors of the Wesleys at the age of nine. This

difference of the parents in religious beliefs and church affinities

remained unchanged till the death of the mother, each attending their

respective meetings; yet, wide as the distinction then was, and warm as

the prevalent feeling was, between Presbyterians and Methodists,

particularly in Kentucky, there was neither sectarian width nor warmth

between the godly pair, the twain were one flesh and one spirit in

Christ Jesus.

The son usually followed his father to church, though he sometimes

accompanied his mother; and during week-day evenings he had the double

advantage of going to prayer-meeting with the one, and to class-meeting

with the other. To this two-fold, yet harmonious, religious training in

childhood the son is indebted for a breath of religious sentiment and

sympathy which made him early a Presbyteria-Methodist in heart, and led

him subsequently to the mid-way ground of Congregationalism, where many a

Presbyterian and many a Methodist have met in Christian unity,

He owes his early conversion to the faithful teachings and pious example

of his parents, to their religious instruction, to family worship, to

Sabbath observance, to sanctuary means, in prosecution of the covenant his

parents entered into with God when they consecrated him in infancy.

The son's first great sorrow came when he was in his ninth year, in the

death of his mother. The loss was irreparable, but it led him to Christ,

From the sad moment when the dying mother laid her hand upon his head and

spoke in words never to be forgotten, her last benediction, sorrow for the

sainted dead was blended with penepenitentialrow towards God, and prayers

and tears cried to heaven for mercy. It was not, however, until the age of

seventeen that the blind seeker found the Saviour, and conscious peace in

Him. This happy event was immediately followed by union with the

Presbyterian church, and this by personal consecration to the ministry.

Just before his conversion, his college course, early begun, had been

completed. Three years were spent in farther study, and in travel, and

general observation bearing on the chosen calling of life.

At the opening of Lane Seminary, under the Theological headship of Dr.

Lyman Beecher, the young divinity student chose that school of the

prophets, and joined its first class in 1833. It was a class destined to

be made famous by a discussion, in its first year, of the slavery

question, then beginning to be agitated by the formation of an

anti-slavery society on the basis of immediate emancipation, and by the

active agitation of the subject in the neighboring city, Cincinnati,

whereby the mobocratic spirit was aroused, whence threats of sacking the

seminary buildings, and thereupon alarm and hasty action of the trustees,

disallowing further agitation, and enjoining the disbanding of the

society. The students, too much in earnest to yield, after unavailing

attempts at reconciliation with the authorities, the professors mediating,

and Doctor Beecher conjuring his beloved pupils to stay with him, seceded

in a body, in December, 1834. The young Kentuckian, son of a slave-holder,

became a thorough convert to the doctrine of emancipation, joined the

anti-slavery society, agitated with his brethren, delivered an address at

the first anniversary of the American Anti-Slavery Society, in New York,

May, 1834, and seceded with the class. "A Statement of the Reasons which

induced the Students of Lane Seminary to Dissolve their Connection with

that Institution"--a pamphlet of twenty-eight pages, signed by fifty-one

names, and bearing date December 15, 1834, was published and went over the

land, and the city, intensifying the agitation at home, and raising it

throughout the country. Among the signatures to this document are those of

Theodore D. Weld, H. B. Stanton, George Whipple, J. W. Alvord, George

Clark, John J. Miter, Amos Dresser, (afterwards scourged in the Public

Square of Nashville,) William T. Allen, son of a slaveholding Presbyterian

minister in Alabama, and James A. Thome.

Exiled from the Seminary halls, these rebel reformers took refuge in a

building hard by the city, and extemporized a Theological school,

themselves being both lecturers and students. The following Spring,

negotiations being matured for adding a Theological department to the

Oberlin Institute by the accession of Professors Finney and Morgan the

seceders went in a body to Oberlin, where they prosecuted their

preparations for the ministry, which were completed in 1836. Among these

first graduates of Oberlin Theological Seminary was J. A. Thome. The Winter

of 1835-6, he had spent in lecturing on anti-slavery in Ohio, under

commission of the American Anti-Slavery Society. The Winter of 1836-7, he,

with Jos. Horace Kimball, of New Hampshire, visited the British West India

Islands to investigate the results of the abolition of slavery, two years

prior, by act of Parliament. A volume entitled "Emancipation in the West

Indies," prepared by Mr. Thome, and published, in 1837, by the American

Anti-Slavery Society at New York, embodied these observations. The book

was timely and told efficiently on the reform in this country. The Winter

of 1837, was passed in Kentucky, the abolitionist living among

slaveholders, and officiating as the minister in the church of his father.

The next Spring he accepted a call to the chair of Rhetoric and Belles

Lettres in Oberlin college, and in September following was married to Miss

Ann T. Allen, daughter of John Gould Allen, Esq., of Fairfield,

Connecticut. After ten years of professorial labors, in association with

men of great worth, most of whom still retain their connection with the

college, Mr. Thome entered upon the pastoral work, December, 1848, in

connection with the church of which he is still the pastor.

He has enjoyed a pastorate of twenty years, uninterrupted by serious

ill-health, and cheered by successive revivals and consequent accessions

to the church, which, having a membership at the beginning of his

pastorate of little over one hundred, now numbers over three hundred,

after many losses by dismission and death.

Mr. Thome, early converted to anti-slavery, and consistently devoted to

that cause, has lived to see slavery abolished in America. In addition to

the volume on West India Emancipation, he wrote, in 1850, a book on

Slavery in America, which was published by the British Anti-Slavery

Society. Since, a Prize Tract on Prayer for the Oppressed, also a tract

during the war on "What are we Fighting for?" and a treatise on "The

Future of the Freed People."

At the earnest solicitation of the Secretaries of the American Missionary

Association, and with the generous consent of his church, Mr. Thome,

accompanied by his wife and daughter, went abroad early in 1867, to

secure pecuniary assistance from the friends of the freedmen in England

and Scotland for their education and evangelization. He was absent on

this mission one year. The result of his efforts have not yet ceased to

be realized.

After thirty years of unbroken domestic felicity, three beloved daughters

having been reared to womanhood in the enjoyment of the Christian's hope,

and two of them happily wedded, Mr. Thome and his wife were overwhelmed

with sorrow by the sudden death, on the last day of April, 1869, of their

second daughter, Mrs. Maria E. Murphy, wife of Mr. Thos. Murphy, of

Detroit. A lady of singular amiability, purity, and Christian excellence,

she was endeared by her sweet graces to rich and poor, to young and old,

throughout the circle of her acquaintances.

William H. Goodrich.

Rev. William H. Goodrich, D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of

Cleveland, is a native of New Haven, Conn. His ancestry is among the most

honorable known in American society. His father was the late Rev. Chauncey

A. Goodrich, D. D., a greatly distinguished professor in Yale College; and

his grandfather, Hon. Elizur Goodrich, for some years a representative in

Congress, and for twenty years Mayor of New Haven; and his

great-grandfather, Rev. Elizur Goodrich, D. D., distinguished both as a

clergyman and an astronomer. His mother was the daughter of Noah Webster,

LL.D., the lexicographer.

He graduated at Yale college, and was subsequently a tutor in that

institution. He studied theology at the New Haven Theological Seminary.

While tutor, it was his duty to preserve order about the college grounds,

and he received, (though not from a student,) during a night disturbance,

a severe injury upon the head, which put his life in peril and

interrupted mental labor for a long period. A part of this time was spent

abroad in 1848; and it was not till 1850 that he entered steadily upon

the duties of his profession. He was first settled as pastor of the

Congregational Church of Bristol, Connecticut, where he remained four

years. He was then called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church in

Binghamton, N. Y., where he remained till 1858, when he removed to this

city, where, for eleven years, his ministry has been marked by very great

success. The prosperous condition of the church under his care, together

with almost unparalleled attachment between pastor and people, afford

evidence of the ability and faithfulness with which he has discharged his

ministerial duties. To remarkable mental vigor, he adds great delicacy of

character and the warmest sympathies; and those who know most of him,

regard it as no partial judgment which awards him a front rank among

preachers and pastors.

[Illustration: Yours truly, W. H. Goodrich]

Mr. Goodrich has enjoyed the best of opportunities, and is a writer of

rare taste and rhetorical force, and an eloquent and impressive speaker.

As a preacher he is never speculative and theoretical, never dogmatic nor

sectarian, but eminently spiritual and practical. But the strongest point

in his character is his downright, never-failing _common sense_. He never

blunders, and never has to apologize for important mistakes committed. He

is remarkable for insight to the character of all with whom he has to do.

This trait gives him influence with many who care little for the gospel

which he preaches. Though not conspicuously demonstrative in his outward

life, and though free from all approach to obtrusiveness, so earnest and

direct are his ways, that he becomes known to thousands with whom he has

no personal acquaintance.

In this country it is generally regarded as a misfortune to have had a

grandfather. Most Americans who have reached distinction for abilities and

usefulness, have been the sons of parents unknown to fame. As a general

rule, self-made men are the only well made men. By the force of their own

energies they have surmounted the difficulties that stood in their

pathway, and achieved distinction by their own efforts. There are very few

prominent men in our country whose fathers and grandfathers have left

names which will live for a score of years in the memory of society. But

to this general truth the history of our country affords honorable

exceptions. The sons of certain families distinguished for wealth, for

talent and for the highest position in society, have been so wisely and

prayerfully trained that they have escaped the dangers which have proved

fatal to most of those who have inherited honored names, and to this class

Mr. Goodrich belongs. Though not ignorant of the truth that his ancestry

is held in the highest honor by all good men, it seems never to have

occurred to him that anything less than his own personal labors and merits

would avail to give him a good name with those whose good opinion is

desirable. "The poet is born, not made." _Character is made, not born_.

In 1867, Mr. Goodrich was prostrated by severe illness, which for a

season filled the hearts of his friends with most painful apprehension,

but the prayers of a loving people were answered, and after an interim of

six months he again resumed the duties of his pastorate. It soon became

apparent, however, that while the "the spirit" was "willing," "the flesh"

was "weak," and that a longer respite was necessary before he could again

enter upon his work with his wonted zeal. Hoping to renew his impaired

energies by a temporary release from care, and in the pleasures of travel,

Mr. Goodrich, with his wife, sailed for Europe in 1868, where he remained

for eight months, re-visiting the scenes with which he had become

acquainted twenty years before. The ultimate object of his tour was

secured, and at the close of the year he returned to his people in

excellent health, and with an enriched experience from which he seemed to

draw new inspiration for his work.

Soon after his return from abroad, the rapidly failing health of his

mother, residing in New Haven, became to him a constant source of

solicitude, more especially so from the fact of his being the sole

surviving child of that once happy and affectionate household. His

departure for Europe had been saddened by the sudden death of his only

brother, Rev. Chauncey Goodrich. In the month of August, 1869, that mother

passed from a life which seemed rounded to completeness, into the

"day-break of heaven," leaving this son, Rev. William H. Goodrich, to rear

the tablet to her memory, and to go out from a vacant, voiceless home, the

last of his household.

But a quarter of a century has laid grandparents, parents, brother and

sisters in the grave.

At the present writing, Mr. Goodrich is once more united to his people,

and we but give utterance to the general voice in the desire, that in the

love and confidence of this church and community, he may find solace for

his bereavements; and that henceforth Cleveland may be the home of his

adoption, and the field of his labors.

Isaac Errett.

Among the preachers and writers of the nineteenth century who have pleaded

for a return to primitive Christianity, the subject of this notice stands

pre-eminently among the most distinguished. For more than thirty-five

years he has been connected with the Disciples, and, during the greater

portion of that time, has been an earnest, able and successful advocate

for their plea for reformation.

Isaac Errett was born in the city of New York, January 2, 1820. His father

was a native of Arklow, county of Wicklow, Ireland, and his mother was a

native of Portsmouth, England. His paternal grandfather was shot down in

sight of his own house during the Irish rebellion of 1798. His immediate

parents were both of Protestant families, and became identified with the

Disciples in New York city, as early as 1811--the father being an elder in

the original church in that place. Hence, the son was trained from infancy

in the principles which he now cherishes, and, in the Spring of 1832, at

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania--where his mother had moved soon after the death

of his father, in 1825--when only a little over twelve years of age, at a

time when the church was without preaching, under the instruction of his

mother, he, in company with an elder brother, went forward and asked the

privilege of baptism. He was baptized by Robert McLaren, one of the elders

of the church.

He now became a diligent student of the Word of God, and, under many

embarrassing circumstances, made constant and encouraging progress.

From the time he was ten years old he has been dependent upon his own

personal exertions for a living; hence his respectable education has been

gathered in the midst of toil and care, by dint of untiring, industrious

application.

While laboring as farmer, miller, lumberman, bookseller, printer,

schoolteacher, and editor, he never ceased to augment his stock of useful

knowledge, and to use whatever opportunities he had for the discipline of

his mental powers.

He commenced preaching in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the

Spring of 1840, and soon gave promise of the distinguished position which

he has since held as a preacher of the Gospel.

He enjoyed the advantages of frequent and intimate association with

Walter Scott, Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell, and most of the early

advocates of primitive Christianity in the West; and his association with

these men was of incalculable advantage to him, for they not only gave him

valuable instruction in the principles of the Reformation, but he was

enabled, by coming in frequent contact with them, to draw inspiration from

their lives and characters for the great work upon which he had entered.

His ministerial labors have been divided between the work of an evangelist

and pastor. He was pastor of a church in Pittsburgh three years; New

Lisbon, Ohio, five years; North Bloomfield, Ohio, two years; Warren, Ohio,

five years; Muir and Ionia, Michigan, eight years; and Detroit, Michigan,

two years. At all these points he was eminently successful, and, besides

his regular pastoral labors, did considerable work in the general field.

He removed to Warren, Ohio, in 1851, and while there, was corresponding

secretary of the Ohio Missionary Society three years; and it was he who

first put that society into systematic and active operation.

In 1856, he removed his family to Ionia county, Michigan, and while

laboring to build up a congregation at that point, he was prevailed upon

to take the corresponding secretaryship of the American Christian

Missionary Society, which position he held three years, and succeeded in

bringing the society to a degree of prosperity which it had never before

reached. When heresigned the Secretaryship he was appointed first

vice-president, and afterwards presided at the annual meetings of the

society until 1866, when he was elected president. This, however, he at

once declined. In the Spring of 1856, he removed to Cleveland, Ohio.

In April, 1866, he established the Christian Standard in Cleveland, which

has become a leading and influential religions journal. In August, 1868,

having been elected first president of Alliance College, he removed to

Alliance, Ohio, and at once gave to the new college a successful position

among our literary institutions. In May, 1869, he was elected president of

the Ohio Christian Missionary Society. In August, 1869, he was elected, by

a unanimous vote of the Board of Curators of Kentucky University, to the

presidency of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of that University.

Also, about the same time, Bethany College tendered him the Biblical

Department of that institution. We have not learned whether he has yet

accepted either of these positions.

Mr. Errett's personal appearance is striking and prepossessing. He is

about six feet one inch high, has dark auburn hair, light grey eyes, and a

well developed muscular organization. As a public speaker he has few, if

any, superiors. His language is chaste and copious, containing an

unusually large per cent, of Saxon words; his gesticulation is easy and

natural, but his voice, though well under control, has not volume enough

to give full force to his beautiful and stirring thoughts. His writings,

like his sermons, are full of strong and rugged points, and are frequently

interspersed with brilliant passages of exquisite beauty that will compare

favorably with many of the finest word-paintings in the English language.

In the social circle he is companionable, but not a very good

conversationalist. He needs the inspiration of an audience, or the quiet

solitude of the study, to bring out his full strength; hence, while he is

pleasant in company--full of wit and humor--he does not appear there to

the best advantage.